The Final Lesson
by DirectionOfTime
Summary: An accident during training, a dear friend and a heartbreaking loss. Why is it that Kakashi's lessons seem to come with the death of a loved one? Sort-of KakaSaku. Sarada. Angst. Fluff. Death.


_So... I kinda wrote this super quickly, the idea just attacked me... I'm sorry!_

* * *

 ** _The Final Lesson_**

Kakashi had never run so hard in his life, his feet slamming carelessly onto the roofs he'd hopped over many a-time and even the thin sheet metal of various lean-to's he was forced to use as a boost screamed. Their noisy rebuttal a real-time reminder of the grief that was scratching vehemently at his door, desperate to be let in. He felt him cough in his arms, weakly, his small body shaking from shock and wet from the blood; _not like this… not now_ Kakashi pleaded to all manner of his personal demons, _it wasn't fair! Not. Like. This._ He skidded to a halt in front of her house, his elbow slamming into the door, the surest sign of Kakashi's instability, careful not to jostle his charge — or his injury — any more than he already had done, he slipped one bloodied hand out from under him and rapped harshly on the door,

"What the hell is it?" Sakura snapped as she wrenched the door open, the lines heavy around her eyes and mouth telling of how long the past few years had been for her, "Kakashi? Wha—" Her eyes fell to the patient in his arms and her medic-mode clicked in instantly, "What happened? Tell me everything," She demanded as she stepped back and led Kakashi through her labyrinthine house towards her make-shift patient room,

"We… we were practicing, I was training one of the new ninken, mostly just with kunai for the time being since he is still quite young, though I was using a few kibakufida here and there, the youngest one, Sansim wasn't being careful and detonated an easy trap, Pakkun leapt at him to push him out of the way and took the hit of three kunai…" Kakashi voice almost trembled as he spoke, setting his small down down on the table; the dog breathing harshly, but intermittently, the fist kunai had already fallen out of his body, it causing little more than a puncture wound over his hind quarters, the second had caused a deep, but glancing gash against his ribs but the third… oh, the third had caught him square in the neck, burying itself to the hilt, reaching almost completely through Pakkun's neck, severing his oesophagus, Kami-sama knew whether his arteries or windpipe had been hit. _Probably,_ Kakashi morbidly thought.

" _Kami-sama_ ," He heard her whisper as her fern green chakra danced over the small dog's body,

"What? What?" he demanded,

"This isn't good, Kakashi," Sakura whispered,

"Please! Please do whatever you can for him…" He hovered over her shoulder,

"I will, but I can't do it with you here, go and sit in the living room, I will do anything and everything for him, Kakashi,"

"But—"

" _Now_ ," She demanded, staring squarely at him, "But first, go and fetch me Sarada,"

"…" Kakashi stood for a moment unsure what to do - he couldn't leave Pakkun, but Sakura was his best chance… after a further few seconds of hesitation, he darted from the room to retrieve his former student's daughter.

…

Kakashi didn't go to the living room. He sat outside the room, his back against the adjacent wall; Sarada had returned with Shizune over half an hour ago and it was a special kind of torture listening to their hushed hurried voices trying to rescue a doomed ninken. How could Pakkun survive after a blow like that? He was so old now, still strong, still stubborn and still intelligent, but old… he couldn't survive such an injury, could he? Kakashi could sense the rest of the pack outside the house, probably all feeling painfully guilty. He'd forgotten to dismiss them in his haste to get Pakkun to Sakura. The sound of a _fusuma_ opening and closing had his head whip up, though he already knew it was too far away to be anyone of _the room_. The small, bespectacled face of Sarada peeked around the corner, closely followed by the rest of her carrying a small cup,

"Here, Kakashi-san, I made you some tea," Her voice squeaked a little as she knew the somber occasion for so much commotion in her house, despite the fact her six year-old brain probably couldn't comprehend the severity of it.

"Thank you," His own voice croaked as he accepted the steaming cup, he set it to the floor between his legs, "It's rather late, Sarada-chan, you should be in bed not making strange men tea," His arms shifted to return to their lifeless position on the floor, by his sides.

"You're not a stranger, Kakashi-san… and I can't sleep, anyway," She answered before moving to sit beside him, her form so small her head was barely higher than his bent knee, she pushed herself back to lean against the wall, mirroring Kakashi,

"Hgn… me neither," He conceded,

"Is your ninken hurt?"

"Yes… how do you know what a ninken is?" Facts were safer territory; he didn't want to cry and he especially didn't want to cry in front of his student's young daughter, she wouldn't have a clue how to handle that; it wouldn't be fair.

"I'm reading a book about ninja animals, plus I'd seen you with your dogs before and I wanted to meet them, I didn't understand why your dogs wore clothes but others in the village didn't," Her voice was honest, childish, but coloured by intelligence; against his will, Kakashi's lips pulled into a hidden smile. His next words seeming to form of their own accord,

"Well, I'm sure at some point my ninken will want to meet you too,"

"Really?" Her body lurched forwards to get a better look at the man beside her, the smile on her face ecstatic, hopeful; Kakashi forced a real smile, his eye curving in its natural way. "Wow! That will be so cool!" Her voice grew louder as she spoke, though suddenly seemed to remember herself, "Uh… but… I mean, if your ninken is okay after this," She surely meant it well, but it stabbed at Kakashi, she might as well have thrown a kunai herself. Something must have shown on his face for the child beside him suddenly shrank back a little.

"I'm… sorry, I didn't mean…"

"Its fine," He rasped, turning his head away to look back at the still closed door, intermittent shards of light escaping from beneath; he almost jumped at the feel of her little arms weave around the crook of his elbow as she cuddled against his upper arm, slack as it was,

"I really hope he will get better, if anyone can do anything, my mum can," She asserted, in a way not unlike a young Naruto, but for her lack of boisterousness. He felt very conscious of the way her chin bounced against his bicep as she spoke; he didn't respond for a moment and she squeezed a bit tighter.

Kakashi shifted and pulled his arm away from her, gently, before he lifted it up and over her, tucking her under his arm as his hand found her right shin. He rubbed his hand up and down twice in a gesture of both comfort and gratitude, "Thank you, Sarada-chan,"

"Have you had him long?" She asked, all innocence,

"Yes, many years,"

"Is he your favourite?" _Kami-sama what a question_ ,

"I… called on him most often, but I love all my ninken equally, they are all so important to me," He spoke as if they could all hear him.

"I really hope he will get better, I want to meet him," Her voice was so quiet, even muffled as it was against his flack jacket as she leaned against him, but Kakashi found himself paralysed to answer for a moment, the idea that Pakkun might need to live for the love of a person other than himself had never occurred to him before. The moment was infinity in a moment for just as he drew breath in to answer her, the fusuma slid open and Sakura stood in the doorway, her hands bloody, her forehead sweaty and her face sombre.

"I'm so sorry, Kakashi," She whispered, he pushed himself to his feet as quickly as he dared, trying not to hurt Sarada, he strode across the distance, into the room, finding Pakkun laid on a table, with Shizune stood nearby, her wrist pressed against her mouth. The ninken looked awful, tired and blood still, a bandage was tied around the wound but the growing crimson patch upon it was unmistakably fresh blood, "I thought you'd want to say goodbye," She whispered. Kakashi hurried his steps over to the small dog, laying his hand onto the pug's chest, which was stilted with measured breaths; Shizune quietly excused herself and left the room, closing the _fusuma_ behind her.

"Pakkun," He whispered,

"Mak… sure you… train that pup…" He wheezed, as Kakashi brought his hand up to stroke over the pug's head, instinctively nodding, even though he doubted the dog could see him,

"Yes, of course I will,"

"I'm… sorry, Kakashi…"

"No! No!" Kakashi hurried, his hand moving automatically to scratch behind Pakkun's ear, "You've done so well, Pakkun, you've been the best ninken I could have asked for,"

The dog's lips pulled, bearing his teeth as Kakashi's fingers still scratched at the smooth skin behind his floppy ear in a gesture he chose to believe was a smile as Pakkun forced one last breath from his between his teeth and drew no fresh air in. Kakashi didn't move for a full five minutes, even as he felt some small tendrils of chakra reach him as the blood contract between that of himself and his ninken was spent, proving Pakkun's death; still, Kakashi refused to believe it.

Sakura dropped a hand to his shoulder, breaking the spell,

"I'm so sorry, Kakashi, the injury was just too great," Her voice was gentle, well practiced. Kakashi felt as if he couldn't even draw a breath in for fear a sob would escape him. _Pakkun?_ Never in his darkest dream had he ever thought he'd loose the precious dog, as folly as it had been. He felt Sakura's hand on his side and for the first time in his life, he gave in to the comforting touch of another and span around. He wrapped his arms around her dropped his head to her shoulder, her arms weaving gently, though firmly around his middle. No judgement, no reparation and no hesitation, she just let him be in his sadness… just as Sarada had, in her own way.

But… couldn't he have learnt this lesson without losing his oldest friend?

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 _A/N - Even_ I _don't want to accept this! T.T_


End file.
